Scooter riding has recently become a popular recreational activity and an alternative to pursuits such as skateboarding, bike riding, inline skating, etc. In particular, in recent years advanced riders have developed new riding techniques and maneuvers for scooters including riding on ramps, obstacles and performing large jumps that place extreme amounts of stress on the scooter components. Scooters designed for “cruising” or designed without extreme performance demands in mind may fail structurally when landing large jumps, grinding or sliding on obstacles, or otherwise performing new maneuvers that were not accounted for by conventional scooter designs.
In particular, a common point of failure in scooters is the joint between the neck and the deck. The neck of the scooter is the component used to connect the handlebar stem, which is the substantially vertical post with handlebars adjacent to the upper end, to the deck of the scooter, which is the substantially horizontal platform upon which the rider stands. The neck is also used to mount the front fork, which includes a substantially vertical head tube received by a bottom surface of the neck. The front wheel is mounted to the fork, and the head tube and the stem are coupled together by a coupler above the neck. Most conventional scooters have two wheels attached to the deck, though scooters with more than two wheels also exist. Many scooters, though not all, include a hinged joint between the head stem and the deck. To the extent such a hinged joint is present, structural failures in the neck of the scooter are even more likely to occur if the scooter is used for high-performance riding that the original scooter designers may not have considered.
Finally, another drawback of conventional scooter designs is that the necks and decks are generally permanently connected to each other. Different styles or techniques of riding may be better suited to different, neck, stem or handlebar designs, or different angles of the stem relative to the deck. However, for a rider who desires optimal equipment for different riding styles, this has in the past required the rider to purchase several different scooters with different performance characteristics.
Accordingly, there is a need for a scooter design that provides a ruggedized connection or neck between the stem and the deck of a scooter. Further, this ruggedized connection would ideally be interchangeable so that riders may customize and optimize their equipment in response to varying conditions and performance goals.